Muslim cleric: “Inner struggle” catching on in America

Islamic “inner struggle”, otherwise known as Jihad, all the rage these days.

Jihad as American as apple pie, says US-born cleric

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Violent jihad, or Islamic holy war, is “becoming as American as apple pie,” US-born fugitive cleric Anwar Al-Awlaqi said in an unauthenticated message released Friday. “Western jihad is here to stay,” warned Awlaqi as he commented on a blonde American who dubbed herself “JihadJane” and has pleaded not guilty to trying to recruit Islamist militants to murder a Swedish cartoonist.

“Jihad is becoming as American as apple pie and as British as afternoon tea,” the US-Yemeni cleric said in an English-language message posted on militant forums and released by the US-based SITE monitoring agency. Western attempts to stop the spread of violent jihad to people who do not fit the usual profile of a potential extremist have failed, he argued, amid a rash of home-grown terrorism cases in the United States.

“Eight years after 9/11 and the declaration of war against terrorism, jihad is still reaching the shores of Europe and America. Not from the outside, but from within. Jihad is not being imported but is being homegrown,” read the message attributed to Awlaqi.

He also referred to Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and to Colleen LaRose, the 46-year-old Pennsylvania resident who dubbed herself “JihadJane.” “The US has spent billions to protect its airlines but they couldn’t prevent Umar Farouk, and the West has been profiling until ‘Jihad Jane’ shattered whatever trust was left in the value of profiling,” the message read.

“A blond, blue-eyed, small framed, middle-aged female. It couldn’t get any further from your typical ‘terrorist’ profile.” Awlaqi has been cited as an influence on three of the hijackers in the September 11, 2001 attacks and exchanged emails with Major Nidal Hasan, the US army psychiatrist accused of opening fire on fellow soldiers at a Texas army base, killing 13 people in November.